The most important developments in sub-Saharan Africa. Six days a week.
Energy Minister Juma Homera announced on 27 October an estimated 223 billion cubic feet of gas at the Kasa-1X well in the Mnazi Bay area of Mtwara, Tanzania's first gas discovery in more than ten years. Operator Maurel & Prom, which drilled the well with the state-owned Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), had estimated about 200 billion cubic feet on 22 October and expects up to 50 million cubic feet a day from as early as November. Mnazi Bay now produces about 130 million cubic feet a day. The find adds less than 1% to discovered reserves, but it can raise supply quickly while the $42 billion Lindi export project still awaits an investment decision.
President William Ruto broke ground on 27 October for Devki Group's clinker and cement plant at Ngaaie in Kitui County, valued at about $540 million. It is the county's first cement plant and Devki's second clinker project after Sebit in West Pokot, commissioned in April 2024 with a capacity of 6,000 tonnes a day. Kenya has charged a levy on imported clinker since 2023 to push manufacturers to make the main cement ingredient at home, and chairman Narendra Raval said the company had planned the Kitui plant for about ten years. Local clinker would cut the cement industry's import bill and serve demand from the state housing programme and the proposed Dangote refinery in Lamu.
Prime Minister Judith Suminwa laid the first stone of a hybrid solar plant in Kindu, capital of DR Congo's Maniema province, on 26 October. The plant combines a solar field of about three megawatts-peak with 2.5 megawatt-hours of batteries and diesel backup, while the whole province has less than 2.5 megawatts installed today. The state Industry Promotion Fund is paying for the start of works, which the rural electrification agency will carry out, with plans to connect 2,700 households, schools and clinics through more than 46 km of new lines. Batteries let the plant supply Kindu after dark, but reaching the province's target of 25 megawatts by 2030 will need financing well beyond this single project.
Namibia inaugurated the 50-megawatt (MW) Diaz wind farm near Lüderitz on 23 October, built by French developer InnoVent through its local subsidiary InnoSun. The 11 turbines are expected to supply about 6% of the country's electricity consumption, with output sold to state utility NamPower under a 25-year contract. Namibia imports most of its electricity, and InnoVent's earlier projects in the country amounted to 32 MW of solar and 6 MW of wind. The plant becomes Namibia's largest wind farm and adds fixed-price domestic supply that reduces the utility's dependence on power bought from neighbours.
